Why Surgery at a Private Practice Is Often More Affordable than a Large Hospital System

The healthcare system can be tricky to navigate, and if you’re dealing with a large corporate entity, you may have to jump through a lot of hoops, from trying to schedule a consultation in a reasonable time frame to determining if you need a surgical procedure to actually getting the procedure done.

And if you’re doing all this within a large hospital system, it’s also likely to generate a bill large enough to induce sticker shock.

At Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota, board-certified general surgeon Dr. John Bollins and our team established our private group practice in 2021 to better meet our patients’ needs, both medical and financial. Here’s why you can expect a more reasonable bill for your surgery than you’d get at a large hospital.

What is private practice?

Private practice can refer to a medical office owned by an individual or a group. A group private practice employs two or more physicians who provide medical care in the same office and share support staff and income.

Because our doctors share the workload, we have the time and the freedom to develop more intimate doctor-patient interactions. We spend more time with our patients in the office, getting to know them both personally and medically, and we have time to follow up on their care later.

Our patients know, too, that they can get timely appointments and that we’ll answer all of their questions about their condition or an upcoming procedure. They also know that we’ll be up-front with them about the costs they’ll incur.

The costs of a large hospital system

A large hospital system has high overhead costs, from the facilities themselves to all manner of specialized, costly equipment to a large staff. To recoup the costs of their expenditures and balance their bottom line, they raise the prices of procedures and hospital stays, often leaving patients with a larger-than-expected bill.

Because our doctors aren’t employees of any hospital system, we can match patients with the facility that best meets their medical and financial needs.  And because we don’t have a large overhead, we don’t need to charge the same type of outrageous amounts for our services that a corporate entity does.

In addition, if you have financial concerns, tell us, and we can work with you to come to an arrangement that meets everyone’s needs.

From your initial consultation to your surgery to your recovery period, you can count on the doctors at Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota to do what’s right for you, including not giving you sticker shock from your bill. To schedule a consultation with our office, call us in Hibbing, Duluth, or Hermantown, Minnesota, or book your appointment online.

We proudly accept Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna, HealthPartners, Humana, UCare, and Medica.